Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Judge acquits Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey on most counts
131–140 of 229 posts
Re: Judge acquits Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey on most counts
#132Seems like there should be an optional trial end, in addition to conviction or acquittal, for "prosecution shouldn't have brought this case", where the accused would get some kind of compensation. I don't know the details of this case, but I remember hearing about it many years ago. I can't imagine the expense and stress of such a trial, dragging on for so long, and then at the end it's just "Okay, guess you're not g…
No need to make it optional. If the state can't convict on all counts, you should get full compensation for all expenses, including your legal bills, any time spent in prison, lost income, etc. In a case like this it would be millions of dollars, maybe tens of millions. Of course, this case probably wouldn't have happened in the first place if that was the way prosecutions worked... Most criminal cases are open-and-s…
To add to what other people said: we're talking about criminal trials, here "on average" isn't enough. Criminal procedure requires such a high standard of certainty(proving without a reasonable doubt, unanimity of jurors) because unlike civil trials it actually sends people to jail. So being right "on average" isn't enough because we can't afford to punish innocent people, we would rather not punish a guilty person than wrongfully punish an innocent one.
Re: Judge acquits Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey on most counts
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
White supremacists? Really? And something tells me Muslims, practicing Jews, etc. aren’t a fan of prostitution either. So really you could just say “religious people,” and it’d be far more accurate.
Do we have many conservative Muslim or Jewish legislators? I would figure they tend to come from more progressive districts...
Don't be surprised. I'm sure there is at least one Jainist Republican American. Religion and conservatism seem to be correlated positively with one another. No particular group or identity membership mandates membership in another. And I'm sure there are a zillion libertarian agnostics and atheists who follow some styles of the broad tent of conservatism without the authoritarian forcefulness of others who want to limit the rights of others, on both sides of the political spectrum.
It's my unpopular and minority opinion that the world would be better without some or most religions but would be better off with the trappings of what churches provide: community, friend networks, singing together, reflecting on philosophy, and mutual aid. Although, I'm absolutely sure the world would be better without the cult of Scientology. https://www.scientology-austin.org/about-us/grand-opening.ht...
Re: Judge acquits Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey on most counts
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
Estimated no one cares about labor trafficking. They care about other people having sex.
I can’t tell if you’re saying that sex trafficking doesn’t exist, isn’t a problem or that people don’t care about it. All positions are bonkers, but which one?
they’re saying that “downgrading” the enforcement approach of sex trafficking to just labor trafficking would mean all the enforcement and task forces go away
which I disagree with
Re: Judge acquits Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey on most counts
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
I spent a few minutes trying to figure that out, but Reason is incredibly slanted, they just link to some even nuttier site, and even starting with news I couldn't find specifics of the one count he was convicted on. But I'd be a little skeptical of Reason's handwave "properly reported to the government". Reported on taxes? To SEC? As part of disclosure for this trial? One way it could be money laundering without bei…
Media Bias Fact Check ranks Reason as a "Right-Center" biased website with a "High" rating for factual reporting: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/reason/ They certainly approach stories with an editorial perspective, but they're generally factually reliable and hardly "incredibly slanted".
“They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appealing to emotion or stereotypes) to favor conservative causes“
So, when they present facts, they surround them with emotional words to try to sway opinion.
Re: Judge acquits Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey on most counts
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
Among other reasons, because the DOJ accidentally leaked their internal communication about the case to the defense which turned out to be fairly exculpatory: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6345276-Backpage-DOJ... https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6345275-Backpage-DOJ... The defendants are precluded from using or mentioning any of this information even though it shows that the case is being wrongfully…
It's crazy to me that our judicial system would be happy to knowingly find innocent people guilty, just because they feel like it's more important to pretend that exculpatory evidence simply doesn't exist.
If you want a silver lining then consider that, unlike most trials, you know with much more certainty which is the just result. When that is not reached, or reached in a roundabout uncertain way (like the ongoing money laundering conviction) then you learn about the ways in which the legal system fails to be a justice system. Arguably we learn about things we should fix.
Re: Judge acquits Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey on most counts
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds like a false dichotomy between "cases that will always result in guilty verdicts" and "cases that the prosecution knew they'd lose but brought anyway to drain resources". You don't seem to recognize that there are many, many cases that could go either way, based on how judges rule about evidentiary matters, what the composition of the jury is, etc. As someone who was a lawyer for years, and who has served on a…
Yeah, cause then prosecutors would actually have to look for exculpatory evidence before charging instead of just sitting on their asses and relying on juries assuming guilt (because why else would someone be on trial?)
That... sounds like an unreasonable bias to me
Re: Judge acquits Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey on most counts
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's crazy to me that our judicial system would be happy to knowingly find innocent people guilty, just because they feel like it's more important to pretend that exculpatory evidence simply doesn't exist.
I think its the lesser of two evils.
The greater evil being what?
Re: Judge acquits Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey on most counts
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
Reason’s libertarian bias sits outside the mainstream Left-Right axis of US political discourse. So what looks centrist or right leaning on a 2D scale is actually heavily biased in a different political direction.
I don't think there's much Left in US politics, unless you mean in the language of US politics, where somehow Democrats are considered "Left".
The Left no longer means pushing for worker unionization or trying to expand welfare programs, at least not in the rich countries. This traditional left has become fringe almost everywhere in the top 20 economies.
The Left is now a mostly academic movement dealing in obscure words.
Re: Judge acquits Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey on most counts
#140I feel sorry for any jury who has to keep track of 86 counts. The Ross Ulbricht and SBF trials look simple by comparison.
There is a great judgment of Germany‘s highest courts from some years ago, where a criminal verdict was reversed and remanded. Almost in passing the court noted that the (professional) judges should have been more careful.
Of the xx counts, some were acquitted, some convicted, some both, and some neither. Of the convictions the lower court had sometimes given prison term y in the upper part of the judgment, but prison term z lower down in the text.
And so on. The higher court dryly wrote that special care has to be given when dealing with many counts.